The UK Floods in Pictures: South West Submerged as Waters Break Defences

Two months of heavy rains and stormy weather has left large swathes of the UK a soggy, sodden mess. Floods have caused damage to some 1,600 properties (mainly in the South West of England), and there seems little sign of the sorry weather abating.

With severe weather warnings already in place along the Thames and areas in Somerset, a further 14 severe flood warnings have been put in place in Berkshire and Surrey, along with an extra two in Somerset. A £500 million clean up job is now expected, with emergency services struggling to keep up.

With the Thames swelling to unusual highs, even urban areas usually protected by the Thames Barrier from sudden surges are under threat of flooding, such as parts of Staines and Slough.

The extent of the flooding has been reported like never before, thanks to Twitter users posting pictures of flooding hotspots up and down the country, making it easy for the country's media to get a good rubberneck of the damage. Check out some of the craziest amateur shots below, and keep the counties' citizens in mind when you next complain about a little rain sprinkling on your shoulders.